The search party left the tent with Francis leading, and Matt and Alfred following close behind. They started by briefly looking around the campsite.

"Hey guys, wasn't there a big branch lying here?" Matt said, pointing to a spot by the fire pit. "I left it here so I could use it for the fire tomorrow night."

"Now that you mention it, there was." Alfred said. He aimed his flashlight at the area Matt indicated, and spotted an odd looking mark in the dirt. It was like something had been dragged away, making several long, thin scratches in the soil. The trail of scratches led into the forest behind the tents.

"Why don't we start by following these marks?" Alfred said, pointing out the marks to the other two.

"Good idea. Let's go." Francis and Matt nodded.

The three had wandered quite far from their campsite, following the rough trail. They called out Arthur's name several times, receiving no answer. Alfred was beyond worried now, frantically sweeping the beam of his flashlight into the surrounding forest looking for any sign of Arthur. Then, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

He turned his flashlight onto a figure, lumbering towards them. It stood just outside the light of the flashlight; an ominous shadow. The figure seemed to be a rather large human, until it came closer. The creature had many grotesquely gnarled fingers on its hands, that came to a point at the ends. Its head had two gleaming red eyes set deep in its head, and its mouth was hanging open slightly, revealing several long incisors.

"G-g-guys…" Alfred whimpered, pointing to the figure. The other two looked to where he was pointing, and gasped in surprise.

"What is that?" Matt cried out.

"Who are you?" Francis said, moving to stand protectively in front of Matt and Alfred. The figure stopped, and then answered with a deep, ethereal growl. It held something up with one of its contorted hands; the missing tree branch. The creature tossed the branch towards them, and it landed with a heavy thump. Matt turned his flashlight on the branch. It was covered in something dark and red; Alfred lost his composure then. He couldn't contain his panic any longer, and he screamed as loud and long as he could. When the last of the air left his lungs and he was quiet again, someone was laughing.

"That was great! I got you guys good!" The figure said. There a was a sudden bright flash, and then Arthur took a step towards the unsettled group, a smile spread across his lips.

"Was that really necessary, Arthur?" Francis asked, his tone dripping with displeasure. Matt released a relieved sigh. Alfred's knees gave out and he flopped onto the ground.

"I was just having a little fun. To go along with the story I told earlier." He said with a smirk. Arthur walked a little closer to the group, cringing with each step as he put on his twisted ankle.

"What did you do to your leg?" Matt asked.

"Nothing really, I just tripped. It actually gave me the idea to pull this little prank."

"Because it helped make you look like some kind of monster?"

"Exactly." Arthur winked. Alfred crossed his arms, an irritated pout on his face. He had been honestly scared by Arthur, but he didn't want to admit it. The hero isn't supposed to be scared of anything! But it was pretty unfair that Arthur had used magic...

"Well now that you're done, Arthur," Francis growled. He wasn't happy about having to get up and look for the Brit, especially since he had been in the middle of a particularly nice dream. Well, nice by Francis' standards. With a wave, he said "I'm going back to sleep. Bonne nuit!"

Arthur snickered. Matt started to follow Francis, and Arthur was about to do the same when he noticed Alfred hadn't moved from his spot in the dirt.

"You know, we're going to leave you here if you don't follow." Arthur called to Alfred. Jumping in realization, the blonde quickly got up off the ground and ran after Matt and Francis. Arthur let out a quiet laugh.

"At least after all this time, there's still one part of you that hasn't changed, Alfred."

You're so mean, Arthur XP

Thanks for reading chapter 2! Even though I haven't gotten very many reviews, the ones that are there have made me very happy! So if you could, please leave a review. Feedback is my fuel! I might add one more chapter, just to tie up the camping trip. Which may include some UsUK or FrCan, or both...You'll just have to wait and see! Thanks again! -MaybeBlue